If you don’t yet have a grasp on analytics, don’t worry – that’s what this guide is for. We’ll go over Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as some key things to look for that you can check on any social media channel.

Let’s get started.

Social Media Analytics Terms & Meanings

Before I dive into the individual analytics platforms, I want to cover the common terms you’ll see and what they mean:

Reach: the number of people who see your content.

Impressions: the number of times your content is displayed.

Engagement: the number of interactions people have with your content (i.e.: likes, comments, shares, retweets, etc.)

You’ll see these three terms across every analytics dashboard for every social platform. Now, let’s start with Facebook.

Facebook Analytics: What You Need to Know

First things first – to get the most out of your Facebook analytics, you need to install the Facebook pixel on your site. While you can see some data without it, it’s very limited.

This is where you’ll navigate to the various reports to view your data. While I recommend playing around with all the reports to develop a deeper understanding of them, there is one that’s important to know about:

Funnels.

Funnels are the best way to understand the steps your audience takes in going from a Facebook fan to interacting with your content, and finally to visiting your site and even converting into a lead or a sale.

You can create those funnels by going to the “Funnels” tab under “Activities”, then clicking “Create Funnels” in the upper right corner.

Some types of funnels you can create:

Users who messaged your Facebook page then made a purchase on your website or became a subscriber

Users who installed an app then made a purchase on your website or became a subscriber

Users who reacted a certain way (such as “Love”, “Wow!” or “Haha”) then made a purchase or became a subscriber

Users who commented on a certain Facebook post then made a purchase or became a subscriber

Pretty cool, right?

Once you run these funnels and see which actions cause users to convert – such as commenting, messaging your page, or putting a “Haha” on a post – you can prioritize getting more of those actions from your users!

For more details on how to use your Facebook analytics, check out this guide.

Now let’s take a quick look at Twitter.

Twitter Analytics: What You Need to Know

Unlike Facebook, Twitter doesn’t have a fancy pixel. Their analytics are also far less advanced. But, it’s still important to understand how to derive actionable insights from Twitter’s data.